Sunday, March 23, 2008

Hibernation

Well, I guess I forgot to blog for three months straight again. I blame it on the weather here, which is crazy and snowy and cold. We had the first day of Spring this week, and Michigan decided to promptly dump 5 or 6 inches of snow on us... I am trying to get in the spring mood by getting some seedlings started and letting my crafty side show. I haven't become super gardner (or anything remotely close to decent gardner) but I am still trying--I think that should count for something. I started seedlings for tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers, spinach, mint, cilantro, parsley, and basil. I'll post pictures once I have some growth- right now it would just be pictures of dirt. We have three little window boxes on our balcony, so I think that would make a nice little spot for an herb garden.

I also tried making my own laundry detergent this week (I had strep throat and was out of work for three days). I'm currently doing a little experiment with the laundry in our basement to see which cleans and smells best. Not that any of our clothes get extremely dirty, but if the whites get dingy, it's back to the commercial stuff. I am also testing out some natural cleaning products. So far, I prefer the stuff I make and the eco-friendly alternatives more than the normal 409 and Mr. Clean stuff. It smells better, cleans just as well, and doesn't leave chemicals all over my bathroom and kitchen. And to be honest, it also gives me the hippy-crafty-smug thing that Hybrid cars give other people.

My last little experiment is to go TV free for a couple of weeks. This isn't original at all, I got the idea from AT LEAST 3 other websites. But it seems I could definitely find better things to do with my evenings and weekends than watch Oprah and Scrubs re-runs. We're in night two, and I can't say my house is spotless or anything, but I have managed to go to church, visit with friends, go to the grocery store, bake a cake, and get some laundry started before dinner time. That's pretty darn good for me. Normally Sunday is only good for a few loads of laundry, church (if I'm really good), and getting my recruiter report done. And yesterday I ran all kinds of errands and made two new dishes (ratatouille and risotto-both are much less complicated than they sound). So hopefully I won't go through major entertainment withdrawals or miss out on any major world events.

Who am I kidding? David has NPR on as I type this. I won't miss a thing.